80 Percent of America's Schools Expected to Fail "No Child Left Behind" Mandates in 2012

According to a recent speech made by Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, 80 percent of America's schools are not expected to make adequate yearly progress next year. This means that four out of five schools are not meeting the guidelines detailed in the "No Child Left Behind Act". Secretary Duncan feels that NCLB is broken. He stated that radical changes are necessary in order to bring America's schools into the 21^st century.

The Problem with NCLB

In theory No Child Left Behind was a good idea. The purpose of the act was to hold schools accountable for student performance. All student performance is measured under the act, including minorities, children with disabilities, and ESL students. NCLB mandated that schools show increased student performance year over year. Progress is measured by norm-referenced, standardized tests.

The problem with No Child Left Behind is that states are allowed to set an arbitrary level of performance. Students exceed, meet, or fall below this bar. While all schools are required to make "adequate yearly progress", this term is not well defined. All that NCLB has accomplished is to leave us wondering if students are learning anything at all.

Proposed Solutions

Secretary Duncan wants to focus NCLB on three main objectives; responsibility, reform, and results.

Responsibility means to set realistic and meaningful goals for student and school performance. Changes to the law should include holding everyone responsible for student performance, from administrators to parents. It becomes the responsibility of the community and schools to ensure that every child succeeds.

Arne Duncan states in his speech that reform will require a new set of laws and regulations. The new laws must offer a balance between flexibility and accountability.

Results will be met by focusing resources on the underperforming schools, giving them the tools they need to succeed.

Reality

Changing the law takes time. While Secretary Duncan puts forth great ideas in his speech, putting these ideas into action takes money and cooperation from Capitol Hill. This is what happened with No Child Left Behind. Many changes were made to the law as it made its way through the legislature. What was supposed to be a blueprint for student performance became an impossible set of ambiguous regulations and guidelines. Hopefully, Secretary Duncan has the ability to enable his vision for the American school system to become a reality.

Other Content from Associated Content:

The Problem with Standardized Tests

Should the U.S. Adopt a National Curriculum?

Will Extending the School Day and Year Improve U.S. Education?

Sources:"Winning the Future with Education:Responsibility, Reform, and Results"; U.S. Department of Education; Oral speech given by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan